February 1
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PSALM 8 GOD SHARES HIS GLORY WITH MAN
O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. 2 Out of the mouth of babies and infants, you have established
strength because of your foes, to still the enemy and the avenger.3 When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
4 what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?
5 Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.6 You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet,7 all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, 8 the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas.9 O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! – Psalm 8:1-9
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The psalm opens with worshipping God’s majestic name. The all caps “LORD” is God’s covenant name and the “Lord” refers to the position of God to his people, which means Master. In short, David is declaring that His God is his Master. In verse 2, David shows how God uses young and pure innocent children to silence the enemy. In Matthew 21:16, Jesus received the praise from the children in his triumphal entry and quoted this this same verse to his accusers.
In verses 3-4, David speaks of his amazement on how God (the creator of the entire universe) brings honor to man and shares to him His own glory. In verse 5, he continues to mention how God made man just a little lower than his heavenly being and in verse 6, gave man authority over all things on earth. Spurgeon comments “A little lower in nature, since they are immortal, and but a little, because time is short; and when that is over, saints are no longer lower than the angels.” Boice also comments on this verse as “God’s glory is above the heavens; yet He put this same glory and honor on man as a crown. “This is an effective way of identifying man with God and of saying that he has been made in God’s image, reflecting God’s glory in a way other parts of the creation do not.”
What an amazing God we serve, who made us all in his image, so we could fit perfectly into His plan. What an honor that he gave humans an opportunity to share his glory by making us like Him and lifting us from all his other creation.
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REFLECTION
• How can you make yourself worthy of God honoring man and sharing his glory?